Breakfast Tips
Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. I don’t know if it’s the food itself, or the fact that I have a full day of eating ahead of me (If you’ve ever watched your calories, you know exactly what I’m talking about.) What’s a typical American breakfast? Big bowl of cereal, maybe juice. How about going out to breakfast? Huge omelets, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage, buttered toast. Big problems.
In terms of ordering breakfast when you go out to eat, I’d order eggs w/ multigrain toast (make sure you tell them not to butter it), egg white omelet, ham instead of bacon or sausage. Skip out on pancakes, French toast, waffles, bacon, and sausage all together. Until we see changes and healthier options in restaurants, it’s not worth wasting your calories on something you can make much lighter at home.
I love pancakes, waffles, French toast, the taste of sausage etc. I love breakfast food period. But when you go out to breakfast, you can’t trust that they won’t be dipping your French toast in whole milk or heavy cream before they throw it on the buttery griddle. If you love these foods like I do, try making them at home. Make French toast w/ cinnamon raisin Ezekial bread, egg whites, and almond milk. Drizzle with agave or honey. Eat chicken sausage. It’s the flavoring and spices of sausage that make you love it, so why not start with a lean meat like chicken and save yourself some calories. At least try it once to see if you like it!
What about breakfast Monday –Friday? Most of you eat cold cereal because it’s quick. It’s important to know what you’re eating, so I picked a few cereals and gave you their nutritional profile. I made them all 1 cup serving size so you can really get an idea of how they match up to each other. I recommend you all do this- Pour your bowl of cereal as you normally would. Then, get out your measuring cups and measure out how much you poured. Is it above the serving size?
Special K, original, 1 cup
120 calories, .5g fat, 23g carbs, 6g protein, less than 1 g fiber
Honey nut Cheerios, 1 cup (serving size is ¾ cup)
147 calories, 2g fat, 29.3g carbs, 4g protein, 2.7g fiber
Cinnamon toast crunch, 1 cup (serving size is ¾ cup)
173 calories, 2.7g fat, 32g carbs, 2.1g protein, 1.5g protein
Notice the fiber and protein in the last two. Cold cereals are notorious for having very little protein and fiber. Protein supports muscle growth, and makes you feel more satisfied! Fiber is necessary to make you regular. Most Americans don’t get nearly as much fiber as they need. The amount of fiber recommended per day is 20g-35g.
Here is my favorite brand of cold cereals:
Kashi- Go lean original, 1 cup
140 calories, 1g fat, 30g carbs, 13g protein, 10 g fiber
Kashi- Go lean Crunch- Honey Almond Flax, 1 cup
200 calories, 4.5g fat, 36g carb, 9 g protein, 8g fiber
Kashi- Go lean Crisp
Per 1 cup(serving size is ¾ cup)
250 calories, 5.3g fat, 46.7g carbs, 12 g protein, 10.6g fiber
Oatmeal, ½ cup uncooked, old fashioned (expands w/ milk or water when cooking)
150 calories, 3g fat, 27g carbs, 5g protein, 4g fiber
You can see the cereals differ in their calories/fat/carbs/protein. If you’ve never had any Kashi cereal before, try Go lean Crisp. I absolutely love it!
If you can’t give up your favorite cereal, at least add an egg or egg whites into your breakfast. This morning I had ½ cup kashi cereal & 4 egg whites with pesto. I lowered my carb count by having a ½ cup of cereal, and added 20g protein w/ the egg whites.
Many of you may be thinking, “There is no way I could only eat 1 cup of cereal in the morning. I’d be starving in an hour!” I’m right there with you. Kashi cereal is filling, but I usually eat 250-350 calories in the morning. That’s why I suggest dropping down the carbs/calories by eating ½ a cup of cereal, and adding egg whites, or some form of protein. I cook eggs every morning, and it takes no more than 5 minutes. You have the time!
Maybe that’s a lot for you to think about, but a good breakfast is so important. I guarantee if you eat a healthy breakfast, you’ll make better food choices throughout the day.
Kashi cereals can be found at all major grocery stores. To read about them, here is the link:
